Deepwater Academy
by Spadefire
Summary: The typical "Xiaolin high school" story with an interesting twist. Kimiko Tohomiko enters her first year at Deepwater Academy, making friends, enemies, and some very surprising discoveries about something that's been hidden inside the school for a long, long time... Based off The War At Ellsmere.
1. Narrating

**Narrating  
In Which A New Student Finds Herself Alone And, Eventually, Not So Alone At All**

Kimiko Tohomiko held up a pamphlet next to a building. She stood on top of a hill, the sun obscured by a sky of gray, and her vantage point allowed her to view the ancient building as though it was the same size as the picture on the brochure. The building on the cover and the building in front of her were identical. Both were massive stone structures, like something out of medieval times. "Hey, kid, you want me to help you with your luggage?" asked the cab driver that had brought her to the hilltop.

"Um, no thanks," she replied as he hauled her duffel bag out of the trunk. "One of the perks of private school; valet service 24/7."

The cabbie chuckled. "Can't say I know much about private school, kid." As he drove away, Kimiko turned to face the daunting school.

"Yeah. Me neither." She bent down and pulled up her duffel bag, grunting at the weight. Between that and her backpack, she felt as though she was carrying a ton. Slowly, Kimiko made her way down the hill, lugging her duffel bag until she reached the long flight of steps in front of the building. She set down her bag, grabbing the straps and dragging it the rest of the way up. "Great idea, Kim," she muttered as she walked backwards, duffel bag thudding with each step. "Valet service my butt. Why couldn't I have let the nice cab driver help?"

"Miss Tohomiko?" Kimiko stopped, nearly dropping her bag back down the stairs. She had just reached the top, where an old man stood, wearing a blue suit. He was bald and had a goatee, and she recognized him from the brochure as the headmaster of the school.

"Um, yeah! That's me, heh," Kimiko said, standing up straight and shaking his hand.

"Well, I am Mr. Fung, and welcome to Deepwater Academy," he said, picking up her duffel bag with one hand like it weighed nothing. "Few of the other students have arrived yet, so I can give you a tour before it gets too crowded."

"That sounds great!" Kimiko said, wondering how an old guy could pick up such a heavy bag so easily.

"Deepwater is named after the famous lake on the grounds. It's actually not very large, but the mythology surrounding it made it famous in legends around this area. Headmaster Dashi founded this school in…" He led her into the school, which was just as big on the inside as on the outside. It had tall ceilings, and though it seemed to be ancient, electric lights flooded the space with warm light. Red carpets lined the hallways on top of marble floors, and the walls seemed to be made of the same grayish stone as on the outside. Arches rose to the ceilings, where Kimiko half-expected to see sleeping bats or gargoyles, but instead saw ornate carvings. Mr. Fung led her up a spiral staircase, talking about the history of the school.

"… Which brings us to the newest renovations in the gym. We have the best physical education program in the state, since we hold fitness just as high as we do education. Of course, the bulk of your time will be spent in the classroom, but we do give our students the weekends off and allow them to go home for holiday breaks."

"Great," Kimiko said, only half-listening. Mr. Fung stopped suddenly, and Kimiko nearly ran into him. They stood in front of a wooden door, and Mr. Fung set down her duffel bag, dusting off his hands.

"This is your room. If you need anything, just talk to one of the teachers or myself. I believe your roommate was here earlier, but I think she ran off," he said, glancing down the hall. "Well, I'll leave you to get settled!" He left, leaving Kimiko to enter the room, gasping in surprise. It was large, with two windows across from the door looking out onto the forest. On each wall was a bed with an iron-wrought frame and crisp white sheets, and a desk in front of each window. A wardrobe stood between the windows, and at the foot of each bed was a dresser. A door to Kimiko's right stood open, and through it she glimpsed tile; it was a bathroom. Kimiko walked in, dumping her bag on the floor by the bed on the right, closest to the bathroom. She sat on the bed, slipping off her backpack and holding her head in her hands.

"I'm rooming in a Disneyland postcard," she said, still not quite able to believe it. "What have I gotten myself into?"

"You were _talking_ to yourself!" Kimiko turned to see a girl her own height peering through the door, an animated grin on her face. She had thick, scruffy brown hair cut as short as a boy's, and copper-framed glasses sat crookedly on her nose, right above a Band-Aid. She wore a white t-shirt with a bright yellow thunderbolt on it, and a black jacket was tied around her waist. Baggy jeans and Converse the same shade as the thunderbolt completed her odd outfit, and Kimiko noticed a sketchbook gripped in her right hand.

"… Nooo, I was _narrating_. There's a difference." The girl didn't seem off-put at all by Kimiko's response, and walked into the room a little, not quite approaching the Japanese girl.

"Oh, okay! I guess you're my roommate, huh? It's so cool to have somebody new! But I know everybody's gonna be really nice this year, so you don't have to worry about anything," the girl babbled. "'Course, I guess you're really smart and stuff, so you won't have a problem making friends, right?"

"Well, I'm kind of here for the learning," Kimiko replied, shrugging. "I already have friends."

The girl's face fell, and Kimiko realized what she had said. She hadn't meant it to be hurtful, but it was too late to take it back. "Oh. Um, well, I have to go do… something," the girl said, backing away. "It was, um, really nice meeting you, then." She darted away as soon as she got to the door, and Kimiko cringed.

"Way to go, Kimiko," she muttered, glaring at her hands. "You just insulted Bambi."

* * *

Kimiko walked into the auditorium, a vast room with only half it's seats filled. Boys and girls, all in high school, occupied the seats, but only the ones in the front were paying any attention. Not wanting to attract attention, Kimiko chose a seat in the back. A few rows in front of her, she could see a cute boy with tan skin and dark hair waving a plushie dragon in the air above a short, bald boy, who reached for it futilely. Then a muscular blonde guy came up behind the tan one and smacked him upside the head, making him let go of the stuffed animal. The little boy caught it, sticking his tongue out at the tan boy. As far as Kimiko could tell, the blonde one was chastising the tan one for taking the plush, but he wasn't really listening. They finally sat down, and Kimiko tried to concentrate on the speech Mr. Fung was giving, but she was too nervous to listen.

"Hi, Ashley!" Kimiko looked up and saw her roommate, the girl from earlier, approach a blonde girl in a blue tank top that showed her stomach. The blonde sat between a girl with darker blonde hair and a pink shirt, and a girl with blonde braids and a cowgirl hat. "Can I sit with you guys?" she asked cheerfully.

"Oh, great, the_ orphan's_ back," the center blonde (Ashley) snapped, flipping her chic bob. "Of course, Fung's pulling out the same speech he always does, so the same freaks should show up to hear it. Sit _down_, orphan," she snapped, and the girl sat hesitantly behind them. "This isn't an Oliver Twist chorus line."

Kimiko growled under her breath, and Ashley glanced over. "Hey, it's the Tohomiko brat we heard about. Did you have a _comment_, Tohomiko, or is there a chunk of McDonald's stuck in your throat?"

Kimiko stood, attracting the attention of her roommate and the boys who were sitting in front of her. "Ha, McDonald's. No, really… that's great." Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she slowly approached the trio of blonde girls. "I mean, you totally got me there. I chose to work my way into this school, instead of letting my dad get in me in on money alone. By all means, continue to make fun of my public-school background, my outfit, my out-of-style haircut. Wow, it's like all of my deep, unconscious fears are being laid bare before me." At this point she had shoved past the girl in the pink shirt and sat next to Ashley, pushing the girl out of her seat. "And y'know, I'm totally with you. Losers like me suck, and I sure do wish I had your social power. But you know what I'm glad I don't have?"

Ashley had no idea how to respond, and Kimiko grinned inwardly. "Um, no… what?" she asked, unable to think of anything else to say.

"An inner insecurity so profound I would have to pick on others just to feel better about myself. So, tell me, why _are_ you such a creep? Mommy and Daddy didn't love you enough?" She leaned in, glaring daggers. "Inquiring minds want to know."

Ashley was still for a moment, then she stood abruptly, fury radiating around her. "Come on, girls. It smells like dork in here." Then she and her posse stormed out of the auditorium, leaving Kimiko and the brunette girl to watch the doors slam behind them.

"That was amazing!" Kimiko's attention was brought back to the girl in glasses, who was sitting behind her and grinning widely. "I've never seen anybody stand up to Ashley like that!"

Kimiko shrugged, smiling. "It wasn't too hard. I've dealt with worse. But I think we got off to a bad start." She held out her hand and the girl shook it firmly. "I'm Kimiko Tohomiko, and sometimes I talk to myself."

"I'm Emma O'Reiley, and I think I'm gonna like being your roommate," the girl said, returning the smile.

Kimiko noticed the three boys glancing her way, and waved. The tan boy waved back, flashing her a grin. Kimiko faced the front again, crossing her arms behind her head. "It should be an interesting year."

* * *

"Ashley… what was that?" The girl paused, turning to face the other two girls. The girl with dark blonde hair was the tallest, but the girl with the cowgirl hat was the toughest-looking.

"What was what?" Ashley replied, her eyes narrowed like a cat's.

"The new girl," said the girl in the hat. "Nobody talks t'you like that." Her voice had a Southern twang.

"It was nothing, Jessie," Ashley said, glancing back at the auditorium.

"Nobody beats you, Ashley," said the girl in the pink shirt.

"No, Dyris, they don't," she replied. Then a small smile worked its way onto her face, and she turned away from the auditorium, facing the other two. "It should be an interesting year."

**A/N: Yes, I should be working on Knightfall, but I should also be exercising and watching grown-up shows and not Transformers Animated (which has come back to the Hub, SQUEE!) so forget that idea! XD This is based off of The War At Ellsmere, a graphic novel by Faith Erin Hicks. Her writing and illustrating are both phenomenal, so I suggest you check her out. As to why I didn't use Wuya as the head of the gang, she's- let's face it- too old to be a high school girl. Chase won't be in here either, so if you're only reading this in hopes of hot Chase Young shower scenes, you're gonna be disappointed. Also, you should see someone about that. O.o Drop a review and I'll love you ****forever!**


	2. Pretty Different Girl

**Pretty Different Girl**

**In Which A Story Is Told And Rivalry Is Begun**

**A/N: I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry I am so late on this. But I have an excuse! My life is slowly spiraling into a pit of failure and sickness and despair, so I've been kinda busy. *crawls into hole and dies* Oh my gosh, you guys, the response to this has been staggering! Never before have I gotten so many positive reviews for my first chapter! *****cries* You like me… you really like me!  
Emma: Jeez.  
Anywho, obviously for those of you who've read The War At Ellsmere, the dialogue deviates some here. That's a given seeing as I'm keeping the fellas in here, but do try and bear with me. Also, that is NOT Rai/OC, I swear. They're just both goofballs. Enjoy!**

Once Mr. Fung's speech was done, everyone went back to their rooms to unpack. Kimiko lay on the bed, sighing. She had hung her calendar already, and she reached up and flipped through the pages, mentally groaning at the months ahead. Then she looked over and noticed that Emma had several bags strewn about the floor. "Think you brought enough?" she asked jokingly.

"You can never be too prepared," Emma replied seriously. "I've got everything right here- three extra sketchbooks, my favorite books, and clothes for every occasion, including alien abduction!"

"What do you wear for that?"

"I... I actually don't know," Emma replied, thinking. "A jumpsuit, maybe? Ooh! With goggles! Everything is better with goggles," she said matter-of-factly, and Kimiko laughed.

"So, how long have you been going to this school, anyway?" Kimiko asked, crossing her arms behind her head.

"Pretty much all my life. My mom went here, and her mom, and before that her mom and her mom," she said.

"Wow. Legacy-tastic."

"Right? I think there's a wing of the school named after my family. I've never seen it, though," she added. "This place is too big."

"It's a castle," Kimiko agreed. "I keep thinking I'm in some cracked fairytale, complete with a wicked witch wannabe... what was that girl's problem, anyway?"

"Oh, Ashley? She's... not very nice," Emma murmured, rubbing the Band-Aid on her nose.

Kimiko didn't notice. "So much for 'everybody's gonna be really nice this year,' huh?"

"I don't know. Every time we come back from summer, I think things'll be different. Even though they never really are." She paused, staring at her hands for a moment before smiling at Kimiko. "You're here, though, so that's pretty different."

"Yeah, that's me, pretty different girl," Kimiko said. "I should've thought it over before choosing to work my way into this school. I'm already making enemies."

"Well, I think you're cool," Emma said, grinning crookedly. "And I bet you were really popular in your old school!"

"Oh, yeah," Kimiko said, rolling her eyes. "I was voted homecoming dork and the prettiest boy geek of them all asked me to prom."

"Really?"

"No, not really. But if they did have it, I'd win that thing hands down."

"Oh."

Kimiko chuckled. "But… I had people to sit with, if that's what you mean."

"Sometimes Ashley would let me sit with her. Kind of. I had to sit two seats away and not look directly at her." The girl's face contorted as though she had just tasted something very bitter. "I just noticed… I think Ashley's kind of evil."

A knock at the door drew their attention, and a boy stuck his head in. "Knock, knock," he said, and Kimiko recognized him as one of the three boys from earlier.

"Hey, Raimundo!" Emma said, grinning at him.

"Say, did you fall from Heaven?" he asked her, leaning on the doorframe. Kimiko watched with interest; she hadn't taken Emma as one to have a boyfriend.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Whyever do you ask?" she monotoned.

"'Cause your face is seriously messed up!" Raimundo said, cracking up. Kimiko tried to stifle her laughter, but still caught the attention of the other two. "Hey, Emma, you didn't introduce me to your friend here," Raimundo said, staring at Kimiko.

"Rai, this is Kimiko Tohomiko. Kimiko, this is Raimundo Pedrosa, biggest jerk on campus."

"Not true," he said, his smile never fading. "Jack is the jerkiest. You just hate me 'cause I'm beautiful."

"I hate you 'cause you're mean to me," Emma replied, crossing her arms obstinately. "And you steal my sketchbooks and draw inappropriate things in them."

Raimundo laughed. "How is- oh, nevermind. Anyway, you an' me got the early dinnertime this year, loser." He glanced at Kimiko and bowed slightly. "May I escort a lovely lady to dinner?"

"It's a trap!"

"Shut up, Admiral Ackbar!" Kimiko had to stifle her laughter again. She hopped off the bed, dusted herself off and gave a polite curtsy.

"You may indeed." Raimundo's face lit up, and when Emma noticed, she smiled.

"Aww! You two are so cute. Well, I'll be off!" she chirped, skipping out the door. Kimiko blushed, but Raimundo just laughed it off.

"That Emma. She never shoulda quit therapy." He turned back to Kimiko, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Anyway, come on, I'll show you where the cafeteria is!"

* * *

"This is horrible and disgusting." Emma walked out of the bathroom to see Kimiko standing in front of the mirror. She had put on her school uniform- a black sweater over a white button-up shirt with a light blue tie, a blue and green plaid skirt and her own addition of white leggings and black flats- and seemed rather distressed.

"Whassa matter?" Emma asked through the toothbrush in her mouth.

""I'm wondering what's wrong here," Kimiko muttered. Then she turned to Emma and held her arms out at her sides. "Look, normally I've got a pretty good fashion sense, but this is just painful. This can't be what we have to wear."

"Oh, don't worry, you'll get used to it," Emma said cheerfully, waving her hand dismissively.

Kimiko groaned and turned back to the mirror. "No. No, I won't. This is an entirely unsafe use of plaid."

"Well, we'd better get to breakfast." Kimiko turned around to see Emma putting on her glasses. She wore a white, short-sleeved oxford and the blue tie, and blue and green plaid pants. The black sweater was tied around her waist, and her shoes were, from what Kimiko could see, Converse with comic book panels from Batman. The Band-Aid from the first day was gone, and in it's place Kimiko could see the last impression of a cut. But Emma actually looked decent.

"Impressive. Also, I hate you," Kimiko said.

"Well, I've had a few years to practice," Emma replied, smiling. Then she noticed a silver watch on Kimiko's wrist. "Oh, hey, you might wanna leave that here. Teachers can be really strict about the dress code." Kimiko took off her watch and slipped into her pocket. Breakfast was over with quickly, and Kimiko didn't see Raimundo again. Emma explained that they varied the eating schedules since there were so many kids in the school, so they weren't likely to see him again until dinner that evening.

The day ended in 17 pounds of textbooks, two essays and seven periods of homework. Kimiko grunted as she lugged her backpack over her shoulder, another two books in her arms. Emma waited by the door and walked out with her as they headed back to their room. "These assignments… pretty heavy lifting," she said.

"What did you expect?" Ashley sneered, passing by them. "This isn't a public school refugee camp, Tohomiko. It's an institute of learning." She and her minions walked away, and Emma and Kimiko glanced at each other before bursting into laughter.

"Institute of learning?" Emma giggled, wiping tears from her eyes.

"You think she sits in her room, stroking a white cat and coming up with that stuff?" Kimiko asked between fits of laughter.

"So… first day, not so bad?" Emma asked.

"Not so bad at all. It was nice having someone to sit with," Kimiko said, grinning.

Emma returned the smile. "I thought so too."

Once classes had ended, the girls went outside to begin their biology project. There was a small creek just outside the school, so they changed and headed out. "Emma. Emma!" The brunette snapped out of her daze and glanced back at Kimiko.

"Yuh-huh?"  
"Maybe instead of staring at the blonde guy with Raimundo, you could help me with this?" she asked, one hand gripping the bank of the creek and the other holding the handle of a bucket that the current was trying to pull away.

"S-sorry!" Emma said, turning red. She sloshed over and helped Kimiko lift the bucket to the edge of the stream. Kimiko relinquished her hold on the bank and wiped her forehead.

"Man, that undertow is strong. Let's move over to where it's shallower," she said, and Emma nodded. "By the way, who is that guy you were drooling over?" Kimiko asked, grinning.

"What? I was not- _jeez_, Kim, c'mon," she sputtered, and Kimiko laughed. "If you must know, that's Clay Bailey, head quarterback for the Deepwater Dragons," Emma replied, sticking out her tongue.

"So you like jocks, huh?"

"No! I mean, well- no, he's not a jock. Actually, he's really nice. He kinda keeps the jerks on the team from picking on the younger kids here," she explained. "That's why he's so nice to Omi, the bald kid who's always hanging out with him and Raimundo."

"I see," Kimiko said, nodding.

"Yeah. His sister's Jessie, the girl in the cowgirl hat who hangs out with Ashley," she added. Then a boot hit their bucket, just barely keeping it steady, and the girls looked up to see Ashley and her friends.

"Speak of the Devil," Kimiko muttered. Then, louder, she said, "Seriously? Are you going to knock over our bucket? Could you be any more of a cliché?

"I see how you are, Tohomiko," Ashley said, crossing her arms. Dyris stood behind her, and Jessie kept her foot on the bucket.

"Really."

"It took me longer than normal, but I understand you now."

"Good for you," Kimiko said, her voice devoid of any tone.

"You act like you don't care. And maybe you don't care about _some _things. But everyone has that one little thing. And I'm going to find yours. So in the end, I'll find a way to make you care a lot."

There was a tension-filled silence where Kimiko and Ashley just glared at each other. Then Kimiko shrugged, turning back to the stream. "Well, thank for broadcasting your evil plans."

"Lex Luthor would be very proud," Emma added, crossing her arms as well. Ashley stood there for another moment, then flipped her hair and turned away. Dyris followed, and Jessie kicked over the bucket before joining them. There was another long silence while Kimiko prodded at the water and Emma stared at the sky. "Wow, you really get under her skin. I've never seen her that… committed before."

Kimiko sighed. "Yeah, I bring out the best in people."

Emma paused, glancing at Clay before she looked back at Kimiko. "Hey, Kim… why _are_ you at Deepwater?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, y'know, everyone else here kind of… makes sense. They had parents that went here before them, or parents that heard about this school and think their kid is really smart…"

"I think I'm really smart," Kimiko said. "I worked my way through public school just to prove that I don't need my father's money to get in here, y'know? I want to go to a really good university- I want to be a doctor- so it's easier to get there if I go to a school like this."

"Yeah," Emma said, glancing at the gray sky again. "It's just that sometimes, you don't really seem-" she was interrupted by a strange noise coming from the forest, just feet away. Kimiko turned to watch as a dark shape, void of form, moved through the woods, trampling brush underfoot. It almost sounded as though something was dragging along behind it, but then it was gone and the woods were silent again.

"… Have you ever heard the story of what happened to Lord Hollow's sons?" Emma asked, eyes still trained on the forest.

"No," Kimiko replied, finding she couldn't look away either.

"They mysteriously disappeared and were never heard from again." Kimiko tore her eyes away from the dark woods and faced Emma. Emma met her eyes, and after a moment, Kimiko smiled.

"Okay. Tell me the story."

Emma pulled herself up to sit on the edge of the bank, staying surprisingly still for such a hyper girl. "So, in the beginning, Deepwater wasn't actually a school. It was a big castle and Lord Hollow and his wife and their two sons and like a million servants lived there. And they had a bunch of parties and everybody wore really fancy clothes 'cause they were all really rich and stuff. But Lord and Lady Hollow were apparently really cool, and so was their eldest son. But the younger son wasn't- I don't why it goes like that so much in these stories, but this guy was really mean." Kimiko leaned against the soft earth that rose up the sides of the creek and closed her eyes, listening to the story and feeling the coldness of the wind against her face. She could picture everything as Emma said it, and in her mind she imagined the sons. For some odd reason, she pictured the older son as a tall, bald man in blue robes… kind of like a grown-up Omi. The younger son made her think of a man with long black hair and angry, amber eyes. She shivered and continued to listen, letting the story unfold in her mind.

"The youngest son would ride his horses until they collapsed, kick the hunting dogs, abuse the servants- really mean stuff. He loved hunting, too. Chasing after animals and shooting them to death." Kimiko could see the dark-haired man doing all those things, but each time he did it seemed as though she was remembering, not imagining. The thoughts were certainly very clear. "His older brother was completely different, though. He was kind and wonderful and loved by everyone and everything." Kimiko saw the older brother playing with the dogs, walking with some children from the other noble families and then, strangely enough, a bird landed in his hand, chirping happily. "Supposedly, birds followed him around, singing." Kimiko opened her eyes in shock. Emma wasn't even looking at her anymore- her gaze had returned to the gray sky.

"One day younger brother was out hunting by the lake- y'know, the one Deepwater is named after- when suddenly, off in the distance, he sees this snake. And it's huge, maybe fifteen feet long. He thinks it looks cool and wants it's skin or whatever you do with snakes, so he chases after it, but it escapes pretty easily." Kimiko closed her eyes again, willing herself to return to the story. She could see the snake, and it really was massive, with blue and green scales that shimmered unnaturally. "He's very upset by it all, being outsmarted by some dumb animal, so he sets out to hunt the snake and kill it. Like I said, he's kind of a jerk." Anger flared in the man's eyes, and Kimiko was afraid of it, but she did not stop listening.

"Anyway, older brother finds out and warns younger brother not to hunt it, under pain of death or something. According to him, the snake is a creature of legend and the spirit of the forest or something, and only bad things come from trying to destroy it. Of course, younger brother, being a jerk, decides he's gonna kill the snake anyway. So one night, he takes off, shotgun in hand." It was raining hard, and Kimiko could barely make out the man for all the rain, but then there was another figure on horseback, entering the woods behind him. "Older brother sees him and chases after, shouting that he's only going to being down doom if he hunts the snake."

The rain grew worse, and the wind lashed the trees around. The younger brother could barely see, and the darkness of the storm was bad enough without lightning to blind him every few seconds. But he was persistent, and he rode on, ignoring his brother's pleas. Then, all of a sudden, all Kimiko could see was the outside of the forest, illuminated by lightning, like something was stopping her from seeing what happened next. "And that night there's a huge thunderstorm, and the servants at Deepwater swore up an' down that they heard this unearthly sound coming from the forest, like something not human and not animal screaming in anger… and Lord Hollow's sons were never seen again." Kimiko's eyes opened with a jolt, and she found herself staring at the sky as well. She and Emma looked at each other simultaneously, and they were both quiet for another moment, each dwelling on the story.

"So what's the moral of the story?" Kimiko asked.

"The moral?"

"Well, y'know, all these stories have morals to go with them… like don't steal the golden goose."

"Oh, umm…" Emma thought for a moment, tapping her chin before she answered. "Maybe the moral is that the forest doesn't like evil things. Or what's in the forest doesn't like evil things."

"The snake?"

"Oh, it's not a snake-" Emma was cut off by a crack of thunder, making both girls jump.

"… We can always start on our project tomorrow," Kimiko said, glancing between the sky and Emma.

"Yep, let's go," Emma agreed, grabbing the bucket and scrambling out of the creek. Kimiko followed, trying to shake the feeling that something in the forest was watching them, it's eyes on the girls until they went inside.

Perhaps she should have looked back.

***dramatic music* Listen, I really am trying to get my stuff updated more often, but I'm having trouble via life punching me in the face (literally) so I may not be able to update my stories as much as I want. I'm sorry! :( Review and make it better?**


	3. Orphan

**Orphan**

**In Which Kimiko Finds That She Is, Perhaps, Better Off Than She Thought**

**A/N: I loved that story, and, let's face it; it's got a good moral. But the story's been told and so must be Kimiko's, so let's move on, shall we?**

Kimiko and Emma walked out of History, each holding a few pieces of staple-together paper. Emma glanced over, noticed Kimiko's and asked, "Hey, is that Mr. Gerard's paper? What'd you get?"

"B minus. It says my thesis 'needs focus,'" Kimiko replied.

"That's awesome! Mr. Gerard is _brutal_. A B from him is like an A from anyone else!"

"I guess. It... feels weird," Kimiko muttered, staring at the red ink on her paper.

"How come?"

"I don't know. I can't remember ever getting this low a grade at my old school," she said. As she flipped through the pages, Ashley and her blonde squad walked by. Ashley paused to hold up her paper. An A was circled in red ink. She didn't even smile; just continued on, though Jessie gave the girls a rather nasty grin. Kimiko watched them leave, and then crushed the papers in her grip.

The next morning, Kimiko awoke in a tangle of blankets, her test sitting on her bedside table. She glanced at it, and then buried her head under the covers with a groan. Emma sat up in her bed, her thick hair sticking up in a brown halo around her head. She noticed what Kimiko was looking at and tilted her head to the side. "Ashley totally got to you, didn't she." It was a statement rather than a question, but Kimiko still felt the need to defend herself.

"Did _not_," she muttered. "I'm just mad about my grade."

Emma grinned and held up her own test paper. "Well, check out my _amazing_ D plus, complete with a note telling me how much better I could do if I just applied myself."

"Yeah, but that's different…"

"Different how?"

"Well, I'm a scholarship student," Kimiko replied, finally peeking out from under her covers. "Stuff is just… expected of me."

"By who?" asked the Irish girl.

"Me, I guess." Emma made a noise of understand and Kimiko pulled herself out of bed, wincing when her feet touched the cold floorboards. "I'm going to shower and then go to the library. Gotta get cracking on the outline for renaissance literature." Emma watched her enter the bathroom, frowning at the thought of anybody actually putting effort into his or her grades.

A week passed, mostly uneventful, and the girls got their essays back the next Friday. Kimiko showed Emma an A with a proud smile, and Emma returned it. "Happy now?"

"Yes," Kimiko replied, tucking the essay into her bag. "Yes, I am."

Ashley, Dyris and Jessie passed the girls like they had every other day, Ashley sneering at Kimiko. "Ready to go back from where you came, Tohomiko?"

A tense moment passed, then Kimiko smiled at Ashley. "No, but thanks for asking," she said in a sickly-sweet voice. Ashley glared and walked by, huffing indignantly. After she and her minions had gone by, Emma grinned at Kimiko and held up her paper.

"I got a C on my essay," she said proudly.

"Good work. You're moving up in the world," Kimiko said. They walked into their next class, Omi running up to them to excitedly explain that he had learned how to make faces in texting. ("Observe, using only a colon and open parenthesis, I can create the illusion I am smiling! Is this not a most wondrous feat?") While Emma showed him other faces he could make, Kimiko sat by Raimundo.

"Hey, Kimiko, check this out," he said, pulling a CD from his backpack. "It's Loco Motor's newest album!"

"Wow, how'd you get it past customs?" she asked jokingly.

"I have my ways," he replied, grinning smugly and leaning back in his chair. Emma walked by, hands behind her back and whistling. As she passed she kicked Raimundo's chair leg out from under him. He hit the ground and she laughed, walking by.

"And she wonders why she's shunned," he grunted, standing and pulling up his chair. Kimiko was almost laughing too hard to hear it, but she did and it made her calm down some, giggling into her hand. Raimundo grinned good-naturedly and sat back down, sliding the CD to Kimiko. "Anyway, what I was gonna say is that if you want, you can borrow it. Emma mentioned that you like dubstep, so…"

Kimiko picked it up, glancing between Raimundo and the CD. "You'd really loan it to me?"

"Well, yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, if you don't want it, I understand, but-" He was interrupted by Kimiko hugging him, and he turned red as she let go.

"Thank you! I love Loco Motor!" she squealed, stuffing the CD into her backpack. "I can't wait to listen to it!" She was going to say more, but the teacher, a young woman with dark skin and a penchant for sarcasm, rapped on the board, and everyone had to go back to their own desks. Emma walked by Raimundo again, grinning at him.

"I'd say I owe you one if you hadn't kicked my chair," he muttered, still slightly red-faced.

"Get me on Clay's good side and I swear on my first GameBoy I will do nothing but help you regarding Kimiko."

"Dang, your first GameBoy? Okay, deal," he said, and Emma smiled, skipping to her seat in the back. The rest of the class passed regularly until the end, just a few minutes before the bell.

"Don't pack up just yet," the teacher said, returning everyone's attention to the front. "There's on more thing I wanted to mention. Some of you I'm fairly impressed with. Your grasp of the English language is… well, if not competent, then somewhat passable. This will be extra credit, and it won't affect our grade if you don't participate, but I will be taking notes as to who does or does not participate and judge accordingly. It's time for a writing exercise. Submit a personal story to me- think of it as a practice run for college submissions. It can by any topic. Anything, no matter how small and insignificant. It's your job to make the story interesting. The best stories will be chosen by me and submitted to some local literary reviewers for possible publication." The students began to murmur among themselves, and the teacher crossed her arms. "Of course, this extra assignment does not mean you can shirk your regular workload. Our test on Macbeth will still be next week." She also enjoyed seeing how much homework she could give the students before they had mental breakdowns.

The class groaned, but Kimiko glanced at Ashley and vice versa. The girls traded competitive smiles, eyes narrowed, and Emma noticed. "Uh-oh." After class, Kimiko dragged Emma back up to their room to begin their homework, though Emma insisted that their time would be much better spent hanging out with the boys. When they reached their room, Kimiko opened her laptop while Emma flopped onto her bed and began to play Pokémon. Kimiko began a Word document and sat for a moment before beginning her paragraph. _When my mom died, I… _Kimiko stopped, her fingers hovering over the keys. "No." She deleted the document, shaking her head to ward off the bad memories.

Kimiko glanced back where Emma lay on her bed, tapping furiously at her Nintendo. "What are you going to write for Miss Minerva's assignment?"

"Nothin'," Emma replied, frowning as she lost a turn.

"You're not doing the paper?"

"What, and have extra work? No ma'am. Besides, I'm not very good at writing," she added, glancing up from her game for a moment. "I mean, what am I supposed to write about? My incredibly boring summers with the nanny? The trips my parents go on with my little sister and not me?" She snuggled into her pillow, looking away from Kimiko. "It's why Ashley calls me orphan. My parents aren't very good at showing up when they're supposed to. Y'know, ever."

"Sorry, Em…" Kimiko murmured, unsure of what else to say.

Emma shrugged brusquely. "Whatever. There are worse things than being the poor little rich girl." Kimiko thought for a moment, then smiled and stood.

"Well, what if I helped you write the paper?"

Emma pushed herself to sit up straight. "Jeez, Kim, ya don't have to-"

"I don't mind! You're the only girl in this school who talks to me, and I'd like to stay on your good side, preferably through bribes."

"Well, if that's the case, you could just get me a couple of pints of Chocolate Therapy," Emma said, chuckling. She moved over so Kimiko could sit cross-legged on the yellow quilt. "Only one problem; I got nothin' to write about."

"Sure you do! You can make any subject interesting, I promise," Kimiko replied. "All you need is somewhere to start… a subject you enjoy, something personal is usually best…"

Emma frowned, scratching her head. Then she glanced out the window, where a mass of clouds was rolling in over the trees. "Can I write about the forest?" she asked, almost timidly.

"Sure you can!" Kimiko grabbed her notebook and opened it to a black page. "What I like to do with an essay is start with three talking points. Anything you want to write about in particular?"

"I like the trees…"

"Good. Why do you like them?"

"Um…" Emma tapped her chin before spreading her arms to her sides. "Because standing under them is like standing under the arms of giants older than anything I can even imagine. I think about how old the trees are and how much time has passed before I existed. I imagine the life of a human as a single day… eighty years in a day, just spinning by like in those time-lapse movies. I think about how I am fifteen years old, and how that isn't even a blink of an eye in the face of the history that has come before me." And, quieter, she added- "And then I think about how my parents forgot my birthday last year, and… it doesn't seem so significant any more." She stopped, and Kimiko stared at her. The Irish girl pulled her knees up to her chin, and looked down at the quilt, tearing her eyes away from the forest and the darkening sky. "And I'm glad."

"That was cool, Emma," Kimiko said, offering a small, genuine smile.

"I also think about Transformers and how they could totally be watching us undercover," Emma added, her eyes snapping back to Kimiko.

"I'm sure they're still on Cybertron," Kimiko laughed. "But why don't you focus on the trees?"

* * *

"You're kidding. The _orphan _wins the essay contest." Ashley stood in front of Dyris and Jessie, at the bottom of the stairwell leading up to the girl's rooms.

"Hey, at least Tohomiko didn't get it, right?" Dyris asked.

"No, it's worse than that," Ashley snarled. "Fung's favorite import has brains. It wasn't a complete insult losing to her. But now that little Olivia Twist is suddenly playing brainiac, it gives other people _ideas_."

"She got lucky, Ashley. It's a one time thing. She's no threat," insisted Dyris.

"Lucky or not, it's a sign of larger unrest in the kingdom," Ashley said, checking her pink nails.

"… Th' kingdom?" Jessie asked.

Ashley turned around in frustration, holding a hand to her forehead. "Gawd, you two! Don't you see the pattern here? If it's just the charity case that wins, that's fine. That's why she _exists_. She's here to _challenge_ me." She saw Emma and Kimiko talking to a group of three boys, and her eyes narrowed. "But if Fung's pet project starts spreading her little street urchin magic wherever she goes… if she encourages certain behavior among the peasants… we have a problem."

"Nobody beats you, Ashley," Jessie said, though she lacked any real emotion behind it.

Ashley glanced back, then resumed glaring at the girls across the hall. "Not for long, at least."

**Okay, so, I've been gone forever. That happened. I can explain, but I'd really rather just apologize and have you guys trust that I was unable to do much about it. I'm sorry, I really am, but I can't promise that I'll get stuff posted more regularly. I'm just kind of in a bad situation for it right now, heh. Well, ah, leave a review and tell me what you think! **


	4. An Open Window

**An Open Window**

**In Which Kimiko Is Reunited And Shares A Tragedy**

**A/N: Hey hey! Like the last chapter? Want Kimiko to succeed? Hate Ashley? Enjoying the Emma/Kimiko bromance? Girlmance? What is it even called when us girls have a bromance? I dunno. Anyway! Prepare to be disappointed and elated, and in the end, very annoyed with me. }:D Read on!**

Kimiko pressed her nose against the window of the cab, her breath fogging up the window. "C'mon, c'mon, go faster, c'mon," she whispered to herself, tapping anxiously on the glass. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of red lights and traffic-clogged intersections, the taxi pulled to a stop at the front of Tohomiko Electronics. Kimiko leapt out, grabbing her bag and running inside without a moment's hesitation. She burst through the front doors, attracting the attention of the woman behind the front desk. "Miss Tohomiko, welcome back," she said, smiling. "Your father just got out of his conference."

"Thanks, Helen!" she said, running past the desk and into a large room with a conference table, where a short Japanese man stood, collecting papers into a briefcase. "Papa!" she cried, dropping her duffel bag.

"Kimiko!" he said, pulling her into a hug. "Welcome home!"

* * *

"You wouldn't believe these kids, Papa," Kimiko said through a mouthful of ramen. (_Real_ ramen, not the kind from a cup.) She sat on the couch in her living room across from her dad, who was in an armchair. They were both eating ramen and talking about Kimiko's school year insofar. "It's like Upstairs/Downstairs meets Lord of the Flies. In plaid skirts. And sweater vests. It's so weird."

"I wish I could have been there to pick you up," Toshiro sighed. "My work schedule is frustrating, to say the least."

"Don't worry about it- at least Deepwater means that you don't have to pick me up from school every day. But I am glad you stayed away. That place is corrupting."

Toshiro paused and set down his bowl. "Kimiko, I- what you're saying is disturbing. Why didn't you tell me the school was this way? I'm not sure I would have agreed to let you go there if I knew…"

"I can handle it," Kimiko argued. "I need Deepwater. Besides, I went through public school just to prove that I could earn my way into a real school, not just skate in on your money. I can't give up now."

"But if you're not happy there-"

"It's not about being happy. I need to do this." Toshiro seemed like he was about to keep arguing, but then he just shook his head and chuckled.

"You're as stubborn as your mother was. All right, if you insist. But if something goes wrong, I want to know the instant you want out of there!" he added sternly.

"I promise, Papa." Then the phone rang, and Kimiko stood. "I'll get it." She strode over to the telephone, which was on a small table under the TV. "Hello?"

"Kimiko?" At first Kimiko didn't recognize the voice, but then she realized who it was and smiled.

"Emma, hi! Are you having a good Christmas break?"

"U-um, yeah, I guess. But, um, I was wondering… you said you live near the Tohomiko Electronics place, and that's not too far away from where I am now, a-and I thought that maybe, if you're not doing anything, I-I could come visit?"

Kimiko raised an eyebrow at the shakiness of Emma's tone. "Yeah, totally! But won't your parents mind?"

In the silence that followed, Kimiko could hear voice chattering away in the background, accompanied by the clinking of glasses, the laughter of grown-ups and music playing. "No," Emma replied, her voice almost a whisper. "I don't think so."

* * *

"How'd you get here so fast?" Kimiko asked, holding open the door. Emma stood outside, bundled up against the cold, her cheeks and nose pink from the chilly air.

"My parents were having a par- a dinner meeting at a hotel near here," Emma replied, stepping inside. "Since Deepwater is so close they figured they'd host something for their Japanese business partners."

"They're not having Christmas with you?" Kimiko asked in surprise.

Emma shrugged. "They gave Sophia her presents already and I got some new sketchbooks, so they're done. It was nice of them to travel all the way out here to get me, though."

"Y-yeah," Kimiko replied, unsure of how to respond. She was saved the awkwardness when her father stepped over, smiling at Emma. "Oh, right! Papa, this is my roommate, Emma, one of the only nice people at Deepwater."

"Hiya!"

"It's very nice to meet you, Emma," Toshiro said, shaking her hand. "We were just about to start our traditional Christmas game of blindfold Monopoly."

"Blindfold Monopoly?"

"You'd be surprised how awesome I am at it," Kimiko said, grinning mischievously.

**One narrowly averted blindfold-related maiming later…**

"Your dad seems really cool," Emma said. Toshiro had just left to get the girls some hot chocolate. Kimiko nodded, smiling proudly.

"Yeah, he is."

"So, um, does your mom live here too?" Emma asked, fiddling with the racecar piece.

Kimiko rubbed the back of her neck. "No, she's dead. She died when I was nine."

Emma gasped and clamped her hands over her mouth. "Oh, Kimiko, I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

"Hey, hey, it's okay!" Kimiko said, waving her hand dismissively. "It was a long time ago. I've lived nearly as long without her than with her. So it's okay, really. And besides, I have my dad, and he _is_ pretty great." She remembered something and pointed to a small package under the Christmas tree. "Oh, by the way, I have a Christmas present for you."

"Really?" Emma squealed, beaming. She grabbed the present, ripping off the paper gleefully. The object inside was a small, rectangular machine the size of a large cell phone, fitting nicely in Emma's hand. It had a small landyard to go around her wrist and a Pikachu charm next to the lanyard. "Oh, _wow!_ I love it!" she cried, her eyes shining.

"Do you know what it is?" Kimiko asked, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Emma frowned. "Ah, no."

Kimiko laughed. "It's a tape recorder. Something all future comic book writers should have. It's so much better than a notebook- if you don't have a sketchbook with you, you can just use this to record all your ideas on the fly. Then you can draw them once you get a chance to sit down and work!"

"This is so great, Kimiko," Emma said, turning it over in her hands and beaming. "Thank you so much!"

Kimiko leaned back and watched her fiddle with the machine for a while, then spoke up. "So when you're a famous artist you'll let me crash in your mansion, right?"

"I'll get a couch especially for you!"

* * *

Christmas break ended and the girls went back to school, rested after a long break. However, the new semester held no mercy. Project after project, endless assignments and monotonous homework bogged the girls down- or rather, bogged Kimiko down, since Emma barely did any of her work- and it left Kimiko exhausted. She continued to get good grades, but at the price of most of her sleep and no free time to hang out with Emma or the guys, all of whom she had become very fond of. Clay was like a nice older brother, Omi was like a naïve little brother, (though his misconceptions about women sometimes left Kimiko wanting to dropkick him,) and Raimundo was… well, she didn't know. She liked him well enough, and he was funny and handsome and good at video games. However, this didn't stop her from giving her all in every assignment, though her lack of sleep quickly took it's toll. Finally, she'd had enough.

"ENOUGH!" Emma looked up from her paper to see Kimiko standing at a canvas, a fire in her eyes and a paintbrush in her hand.

"You okay?" the Irish girl asked, not sure how close she wanted to get while Kimiko was holding something pointy.

"No! I can't _paint!_ Why do I have to learn how to paint? I want to be a doctor, not an artistic leech on society," she cried, exasperated. Emma walked over, peering over Kimiko's shoulder to see her painting. "Give me your opinion. Be honest."

"Is it a robot?" Emma asked.

Kimiko clamped her hands on either side of her head. "No! A self portrait! That was the assignment!" She sighed and rubbed her temples. "What did you do?"

"Oil pastels," Emma replied. She had already completed the unit on painting, and thus was free to choose whatever medium she wanted for her assignment. Also, the art teacher liked her. Kimiko looked down at the piece of paper, where a stunning picture of Emma holding a lightning bolt in a glass ball rested on the table.

"I call it Caged Lightning," Emma said, grinning. Kimiko wasn't sure if it was out of pride or enjoyment of her misery… though after thinking about it for a moment, she surmised it was a mixture of the two.

The girl sighed as Ashley and her minions walked in. "Well, this is a lost cause without Ashley's criticism. Let me wash my hands and we can go to the library to get that new issue of Hollow Fields for you," she said. Emma beamed and nodded, and Kimiko walked over to the sinks. She took off the silver watch on her wrist and set in on a paper towel to keep it dry, then began to scrub at the paint under her fingernails. Silent as a cat, Ashley walked by, picking up the watch and examining it as she walked away.

"Wow, Tohomiko, you've shown up with some ugly stuff before, but this watch takes the cake." Kimiko jolted, looking up to see Ashley holding her watch. "What's it from, the late _eighties_?" she jeered.

Kimiko's eye twitched, then her face turned to stone. "That isn't yours, Ashley. Give it to me."

Ashley raised an eyebrow. Dyris and Jessie watched silently from beside the door, arm crossed. "This is a new side to you, Tohomiko," Ashley said, examining the watch carelessly.

"I'm serious, Ashley. Give it back," Kimiko growled, taking a step towards Ashley. The blonde moved back, nearly bumping into the windows along the wall. She glanced over, seeing an open one next to her, and held out her arm.

"Really, you're so _violent_," she said, dangling the watch in front of the window. "I'm just standing here, next to an open window… holding your watch…"

What happened next was, to most onlookers, a blur. But Emma and Ashley's minions saw exactly what happened. With no hesitation, Kimiko lunged forward, balling her right hand into a fist and punching Ashley across the face. A loud _crack_ resounded throughout the room as her hand made contact with Ashley's nose. It sent Ashley staggering back, dropping Kimiko's watch onto the floor. The blonde fell to the ground, clutching her nose in pain. Kimiko simply leant down, picked up her watch, tucked it into her pocket and walked out of the room without another sound. Ashley pulled her hands away from her nose and looked to see a layer of blood coating her fingers. Her scream followed Kimiko all the way back to her room.

**Well, I'm going to be honest, I'm a vindictive bi- ah, girl- and it felt good to write this. I'm no stranger to bullying and it was nice to write about redemption. Just remember, kids, violence is not the answer. Violence is the question and the answer is yes. This was a pretty short chapter and the next one will be too, but to make up for it the one after that will be epic. :D Leave me a review- the more I get, the faster I update!**


	5. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

**In Which The Authoress Needs To Take A Chill Pill**

Hey, guys. So, I got a rather scathing review last chapter (ye-OWCH!) and it has brought me to a decision. I'm done on fanfiction.

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GOTCHA! Hahaha, nah, I'm not that much of a wuss/drama queen. It'll take more than one little criticism to get rid of me! However. Anon- can I call you Anon?- you, my good sir ma'am, have missed what I have _so_ tried to make clear. I have obviously fallen short and I shall rectify the situation at once. Here's the deal...

This isn't my story.

Oh, I used it, no denying that. But it is taken almost word-for-word from Faith Erin Hicks' story, The War At Ellsmere. It's the same as when somebody does Beauty and the Beast, except that Kimiko is the beauty and Raimundo is the beast and all the songs and lines are the same, but you read it anyway because it's nice and you like that story. That's what I'm doing.

The War at Ellsmere is about a girl, Juniper, who has worked her way into the exclusive school of Ellsmere, where she meets the strange but sweet Cassie. Mean-girl Emily schemes to take Juniper down, while Jun is simply trying to get through school. When I first read it, my first thought was that Jun, a smart, brave, strong-willed girl was just like Kimiko. Her father had died- Kimiko's mother had died. And Cassie, odd, shunned, artistic Cassie, could be no one but Emma! I did use Cassie's backstory instead of Emma's, of course- Emma's resolves better and Cassie has more reason to love the forest, so.

The rest of it just fell into place. Please don't assume Kimiko gets away with punching Ashley, or that I'm trying to encourage that behavior. That watch was special and Jun couldn't bear to lose it, nor could Kimiko. (You'll see why in a bit.)

No, my Anon, I do not condone violence. But I know how it feels to have that hatred boil inside of you, coiled up with no release. I know how it feels to be pushed _so damn far_ you lose yourself and all rational thought becomes a frenzy of rage. I know what it is to understand that no amount of talking will subdue the hate. That person who has bullied you so mercilessly, who hates you for no good reason, will not be rational. They've already decided to not use that option. You'll understand why Jun/Kimiko did what she did in the next chapter. Or at least, I hope you will.

Also, I'd like to point out all the times "violence begets violence" is used in real life. Like Batman. Writing a petition would do nothing for Gotham, so he puts on the cape and cowl and he gets out there and beats up everybody that needs a beating. Just saying.

As for Emma. She is a Mary Sue on occasion, I accept that blame wholeheartedly. No sense in denying what I do fall short on. But I have to remind you that her backstory is NOT like this. I remodeled her a bit to fit the mold Cassie has set. I suggest you read the original story before judging what I do to my characters- it's a great read, and really well illustrated, I think you'll enjoy it, I know I did.

I appreciate your criticism. It is only through criticism writers can learn, and to think you'll never get any is stupid, and I know that. I do think I've learned a fair piece from this, and I'd like it if you could stick with the story to give me some more feedback. You're gutsy, Anon, and I admire the ability to say what you think, even though you came off like a douche. I'm sure you didn't mean to, and if you did, well, you're an asshole and I'm a mediocre writer. So please, continue into the next chapter and maybe I'll have done better.


	6. One More Strike

**One More Strike**

**In Which Kimiko Regrets Nothing, But Some Things Less Than Others**

"Kimiko?" Emma peered into the room she shared with Kimiko, seeing the girl huddled on her bed, facing away from the door. Her knees were pulled to her chest, and her shoulders shook with quiet sobs.

"Leave me alone," Kimiko said, her voice barely recognizable through the tears.

"Mr. Fung's looking for you," Emma said, quiet. "He says you have to come to his office and it'll be worse if he has to find you."

"Worse?" Kimiko asked, her voice straining with the added weight of anger. "How- how could it _possibly_ be _worse_?"

Emma was quiet for another minute or two, then she stepped into the room. "I don't understand why you hit Ashley," she said.

"She took my watch."

"But why is that watch so important to you?"

"Because it's all I remember when I think about my mom." Emma was silent, and Kimiko continued. "I'm almost twice as old as I was when she died. And some days I can't remember what she looked like. But I remember her watch on her wrist when she would hug me after work with Dad." The words continued, like a dam had burst inside her after so many years of never telling anyone. "Why can't I remember what she looked like?" she choked, burying her face in her hands. "What's wrong with me that I can't remember? After- a-after she died I had this stupid idea I was going to grow up and become this incredible doctor…" She fell back on the bed, turning to face the wall. She was quiet for a bit longer, sniffling and trying to get a hold of herself. "I think every kid in the world whose mom got sick and died thinks the same thing."

Emma came and sat on the edge of the bed. "But you could do that, you're so smart-"

"I'm not," Kimiko interrupted, shaking her head. "I'm not even that good at science. But I can't seem to let it go."

Emma bit her lip. "Kim… you really should go see Mr. Fung. He likes you, he might listen."

"Yeah," Kimiko said quietly, sitting up again. She sniffed and wiped her eyes, taking a few slow breaths to calm down. "Thanks for being my friend," she added, turning to Emma. "I wouldn't have made it this far without you."

Emma gave her a small, sad smile. "It's no problem. It was easy."

* * *

Kimiko sat beside Emma on the bench outside of Mr. Fung's office. The door to his office was thick and wooden, but sound still leaked out. "I don't understand how you could let this happen," a man's angry voice barked. "After all the money we've donated to this school, you let some _import_ from the public schools assault our Ashley!"

They could hear Mr. Fung replying. "I assure you, the situation will be dealt with-"

"Then deal with it! I want that kid expelled!"

"This is the first time we've had problems with Kimiko, and she is-"

"What more does that violent little child have to do?" the man roared. "Plagiarize? Hit a teacher? I want her _expelled_!"

Then, suddenly and surprisingly, came Ashley's voice, soft and sweet, missing the viciousness the girls were used to. "Daddy, wait. I don't know why she hit me, _completely_ unprovoked, but… well, I feel sorry for her. I know she's worked really hard to get into this school, and how much she loves it here."

"What's she doing?" Emma muttered, her hands clenching into fists.

"Calm down," Kimiko whispered, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You'll get me in more trouble if you retaliate." Emma growled, but remained still.

"Kimiko never had the opportunities I did growing up- she never had wonderful parents who cared about her. I know she must feel very troubled by that, and maybe that's why she hit me. Maybe she's envious of how lucky I am."

"She's awful!" Emma hissed, standing. "Why I oughta-"

"Emma! Sit down or you'll get us both into more trouble!" Kimiko whispered, glaring. "I appreciate the effort, but think for a second." Emma looked like she was about to argue, but ended up just stomping her foot and sitting back down huffily. "Besides, I punched her. She's allowed one below the belt."

They could hear Ashley going on. "… and if she's truly sorry for what she's done, I'll forgive her. And I don't mind if she stays at Deepwater." Emma and Kimiko looked at each other in shock.

"I'm not sure…" said the man- her father.

"Please, Daddy," Ashley said, all sugar and sweetness. "People make mistakes."

"Well, I can't say I'm in favor of this, but it's what Ashley wants," the man sighed.

A woman's voice filtered through the oak next. "You have such a good heart, dear."

"Yes, I do." Ashley's last remark made Kimiko frown and Emma gag, but both girls remained silent. Then Kimiko was called into Mr. Fung's office, and Emma waited outside, drumming nervously on the bench. Kimiko came out about a half hour later, which to Emma was practically forever. She leapt up from the bench, worry in her eyes.

"Well?"

"I'm on probation for the rest of the year," Kimiko said, starting back down the hall to their dorm. "One more strike and I'm out."

**Like I said, short chapter. But the next one will be epic and so I implore you to review and let me get it up nice and fast!**

**Also, I'd like to take a moment to thank all my reviewers who have been kind about their criticism. My good friends TheXGrayXLady and Marukaite Chikyuu Doitsu, as well as my constant reviewers VanillaStratos and SakuraHostile. To everyone else who's reviewed, favorited or just read, thank you for your support! It's because of you guys I keep writing! :D **


	7. Corruption Course

**Corruption Course**

**In Which We Learn That Very Little Is As It Seems**

**A/N: I've learned in life, that when things start to look up, or when something unexpectedly good happens to me, to keep an eye out for the bad thing sure to follow. All things must be balanced, and so I only slightly regret doing this.  
You have been warned.**

Kimiko sat on the bank of the stream she and Emma had gone to when Emma had told her the story of the Hollow sons. She was reading her History textbook while Emma hopped from stone to stone in the creek. For a klutz, she was actually doing pretty well, until she got to a smaller rock and fell face-first into the water. She got back up, sputtering and batting at the algae from the water. "Eww! Ah! Gross gross gross!"

"Nice landing," Kimiko said, not looking up from her textbook.

"Meanie," Emma replied, sticking out her tongue and immediately regretting it when she tasted the creek water.

"I told you not to go down there. And besides, didn't we come out here to study?"

"Aww, but I hate art history!" Emma cried, wringing out her jacket. "Why can't I just draw?"

"Oh, come on, artists are funny," Kimiko insisted, smiling. "With all their ear-chopping, drama queen ways… if Van Gogh was alive today he'd be the most popular guy on Twitter."

"Speaking of drama queens…" Emma said, handing Kimiko her glasses.

"Yeah, Ashley's been really quiet lately," Kimiko sighed, wiping the wet glasses on her dry shirt.

"Kimiko, I think she's up to something," Emma said. Kimiko handed her the glasses, and Emma put them back on, blinking a few times as her eyes adjusted.

"I don't know, Em. She had her chance to get me kicked out- heck, I _gave_ it to her- and she didn't take it. Maybe she's over the whole thing."

Emma shook her head. "I've been going to this school my whole life. I've known Ashley as long as I've known Deepwater. I've never seen either change." She ran a hand through her wet hair, leaving it spiked up. She spoke next with an uncharacteristic sense of levity. "Kim… I really think she's evil."

"Nobody's _evil_, Emma-"

"The Joker's evil!"

"Yes, okay, him, but no people in real life. And considering I punched her, I think I should cut her some slack," the Japanese girl said.

"Hmph. Fine." Emma looked down at herself, then up at Kimiko. "So, I'm getting kinda cold."

"Maybe you'll catch pneumonia." Both girls looked behind Kimiko to see Raimundo approaching them, along with Clay and Omi. "Then we'd have a good reason to party other than Kimiko's newfound delinquency!"

"You hear about it too?" she asked, a pit of dread opening up in her stomach.

Raimundo laughed, oblivious to Kimiko's apprehension. "Yes I did, and I'd like to officially welcome you to the dark side!"

"She was provoked," Emma said, climbing out of the creek with some difficulty. "Also Ashley is evil."

"That much is true," Clay said, bending down to help. He grabbed her hand and pulled her up the side of the creek in one motion. "After all, Jessie hangs out with her, an' Jessie ain't exactly good."

"See? Clay agrees with me," Emma said, crossing her arms and grinning.

"I think that you are all concentrating too much on Ashley," Omi interjected, crossing his arms as well. "Our main focus should be our studies."

"Lookit this kid!" Raimundo said, gesturing to Omi.

Emma shook her head despairingly. "He's gonna be a goody-two-shoes."

"We'd better get his corruption course started, Agent O'Reiley."

"Right away, Agent Pedrosa."

"No one is corrupting Omi!" Clay finally said, standing between Emma and Rai. "He's got it bad enough as it is."

"I am standing right here."

"How about we all go inside?" Kimiko suggested, standing and brushing herself off. "I have to turn in my paper for Mr. Jackson's class anyway." She and the boys and Emma made their way back inside, arguing about which Avenger was the best. Raimundo argued for Iron Man, while Emma said that Loki should have won. Kimiko stuck up for Black Widow, and Clay sided with Captain America, (no surprise, considering the fact that they were pretty much the same guy,) and Omi insisted that Thor was the best of them all. Unbeknownst to them, a figure watched from the girls' bedroom window.

"They're coming." Another figure shut down Kimiko's computer and they left the room, dashing down the hallway.

Kimiko walked in, flopping on her stomach. "Ugh. I'll be so relieved when finals are over. I feel like I've been holding my breath for a month."

"Testify, sister. You finished your paper for Mr. Jackson too, yeah?" Emma asked, rubbing furiously at her hair with a towel.

"Yeah, I just have to print it out. I'll go do that in the library now," Kimiko replied, picking up her laptop and putting it into a shoulder bag. "You get cleaned up before dinner. I refuse to sit with you if you still smell like swamp!"

"Okay, okay. I'm gonna shower," Emma said, tossing her glasses onto the bed. Kimiko made her way down the curving stairwells to the library, a long room with high ceilings. Wheeled ladders spanned enormous bookshelves, crammed with books, old and new alike. Kimiko headed straight to the desk at the front of the room, where one of the librarians waited next to one of the school's only printers. The librarian helped her hook up her computer and get her essay printed.

Dyris and Jessie watched from behind a book cart, sitting at a table and pretending to study. "Ya think she read it?" Jessie asked, tugging on her hat.

"Mindreading is not one of my special gifts," Dyris replied.

A moment of silence passed, then Jessie leaned back in her chair. "Ah really enjoy our work."

"Me too. I'm thinking of going into politics."

"Too easy."

"Musical theater?"

"Better."

* * *

Finals week came, and the school dissolved into a frenzy of students trying to cram. Kimiko had been preparing for a long time, though, so she was relatively calm about taking the tests. She was right in the middle of her AP US History exam when her teacher approached her desk. "Kimiko, Mr. Fung wants to see you."

"Now?"

"Yes, now."

"Um, okay." Kimiko stood and followed the teacher out. From the back of the room, Jessie and Dyris traded grins.

Kimiko was admitted into Mr. Fung's office without having to wait this time. She sat in the stiff chair across from his desk, growing nervous. Mr. Fung held up a packet of stapled-together papers, showing no emotion. "Is this your paper, Kimiko?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Kimiko replied. "Is there something wrong with it?"

"It's plagiarized," he replied.

Kimiko was shocked. "Wh-_what_?!"

"We always check submitted essays online to check for plagiarism. Over three quarters of this paper was previously posted on a website." He slid it over to Kimiko, who began to frantically flip through it.

"I didn't write this," she said at last.

"Your name is on it," Mr. Fung replied. "The librarian said you were the one who handed it in."

Kimiko became more and more flustered. "Well, yes, I mean- the first page is mine, I know I wrote it, but…"

"But?"

"The rest isn't mine, I swear. I've never seen this before. My paper was different," she said, her mind reeling.

"Do you have any proof this isn't your paper?" Mr. Fung asked, crossing his arms.

"I… it must be on my computer! Can I go find it?"

"This is very serious, Kimiko. You remember you're on probation."

"Please, let me check my computer! I… I don't know what happened!"

Mr. Fung sighed and put a hand to his forehead. Suddenly, where before had sat an austere man who was not to be reckoned with, sat a tired old man who had been let down too many times. Kimiko felt a pang inside her, like she was personally responsible.

"Kimiko… I stood up for you," he muttered, the disappointment evident in his voice.

"I didn't do this! I didn't! Let me prove it!" Kimiko cried, on the verge of hysteria to prove her innocence.

"Alright," Mr. Fung finally said, standing. "Let's check your computer." They walked to Kimiko's room, trepidation growing in her every second. They reached her room and she booted up her laptop, pulling up the document. Mr. Fung looked over it with her, frowning deeply as he read it.

"It's… it's the same paper, b-but I didn't do this!" Kimiko said, glancing up at Mr. Fung. He backed up, shaking his head. "_Please_, I didn't-"

"Kimiko, enough," he said. He wasn't harsh, but he was so abrupt Kimiko stopped talking instantly. "You've left me no choice. You hit a student and plagiarized an essay. There's nothing else I can do. You're expelled."

**AW SNAP! Didn't see that coming, did you? Well, tell me how much you hate me and maybe Epic Chapter will be up soon. Or not. Depends. Review! ;D**


	8. The Thing That Killed The Hollow Sons

**The Thing That Killed The Hollow Sons**

**In Which There Is A Chasing And A Finding And A Manner Of Redemption**

**A/N: Epic Chapter time! You guys have been waiting for this and I hope I don't disappoint. :D I apologize if Emma comes off as a bit Sue-ish (or a lot Sue-ish,) but this is how the story goes in accordance with the characters, and I'm loathe to change it. Enjoy!**

Kimiko sat on her bed, legs crossed beneath her. She knew she should be packing, but other than changing out of her school uniform, she hadn't done anything. Just sat on the red blanket, thinking, trying to process what had happened.

Hey, there you are!" Emma's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Emma walked in, still in uniform from taking tests. "I got worried when you didn't come back to finish your exam."

"No, I'm finished," Kimiko replied quietly.

"Really? Wow, you were fast-"

"No, I mean I'm finished with this school."

Emma's expression of cheer was replaced by shock. "Wh- what?!"

"I've been expelled," Kimiko explained.

"But- but they can't- I mean, for what?" she cried.

Kimiko sighed. "Mr. Fung thinks I plagiarized an essay. I didn't, but I can't prove it."

For a brief moment, Emma's mind continued to reel aimlessly. Then she narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. "Ashley."

"Ashley? What's she got to do with this?"

"She's done something," Emma snarled. "It _smells_ like her."

"But... unless she came into our room and messed with my computer, there's no way she could have changed it," Kimiko said. "Would she even do something like that?"

"Only one way to find out," Emma replied, snatching something from her bedside table and shoving it into her pants pocket.

"Emma, don't," Kimiko argued. "I'm in enough trouble already."

"And since I'll be doing it and not you, you got nothin' to worry about," she replied. "Besides, I'll be sneaky!"

Kimiko seriously doubted that Emma could do anything with any sense of stealth, ever. "Em, you don't have to-"

"I want to," the Irish girl said. And with that, she shut the door behind her and started down the hall.

Kimiko sighed and slumped against the wall. "Whatever. I give up." The rain that had been pouring steadily all week beat harder on the windows of her bedroom, and lightning split the sky with a great crack. "Great, a pathetic fallacy," she muttered.

Emma was proud of herself. All the spy movies she'd watched were paying off. She walked quietly through the darkened halls of Deepwater, staying close to the walls so the ancient floorboards wouldn't creak underneath her tread. The rain sent the skies black and it pounded relentlessly against the windows as she walked by, offering her no illumination. She had one hand against the wall and another in her pocket, holding the tape recorder Kimiko had given her. Lightning flashed in a nearby window, throwing her shadow against the far wall for a brief moment. She heard familiar voices coming from a room down the hall. The Irish girl narrowed her eyes. 'Found 'em.'

The voices, an indistinct jumble from afar, became clearer the closer she got. "... would've given anything to see her face when it happened," came Dyris' trademark sneer.

"Yeah, Fung pulled her outta th' exam th' second he found out," sniggered Jessie. Emma knelt by the door and pulled out her tape recorder, setting it beside the door and pressing record. It was barely open, and light filtered through. She peered through the crack, seeing Ashley sitting in a chair across from Dyris and Jessie, who stood. A large window awash with rain was behind Ashley. Her fingers were steepled and her legs were crossed, giving off the evil villain vibe.

"Excellent work, minions," she said, grinning darkly. "It went off without a hitch. Pretty well for my first evil plan."

"Is there any way th' computer could be traced back to us?" Jessie asked.

"No, we never did anything to the computer itself," Dyris said, examining her sea-blue nails. "We just pasted the new essay on top of the old one so it looks like she did some final editing. You can't even tell we were in the room."

"Marvelous!" Ashley cackled, making Emma shudder.

"Though Ah still don't get why gettin' her kicked out fer plagiarism is better'n gettin' her kicked out fer fightin'," Jessie added, crossing her arms.

"Oh, it's totally better. Fighting is forgivable. Everyone loves a good redemption story about a degenerate pulling herself together and graduating Harvard. It's expected," she said, waving a hand dismissively. Then her eyes narrowed, becoming catlike and cruel. "But plagiarism? No. Good schools don't forgive plagiarism. She's doomed."

Emma saw it before she heard it. The little wheels in her tape recorder halted, and the record button popped up with a painfully loud click. The door swung open, pouring light onto the kneeling girl. Emma grabbed the recorder and bolted upright.

"Hello, orphan," Ashley purred.

Dyris and Jessie stepped into the hall. "What are you doing, orphan?" Dyris sneered. "Spying?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Emma replied. She tried hard to be brave, but it was hard to keep her voice from shaking, and she wasn't doing a very good job of it. She held up the tape recorder, but she still backed into a wall from the girls' advances. "I'm going to show this to Mr. Fung, and you're going to get in trouble," she said, some confidence returning as she let herself think vindictive thoughts. _Revenge, revenge, revenge._

Jessie and Dyris glanced nervously back at Ashley, who remained as calm as ever. She stepped forward, and Emma's back hit the wall. "Orphan. Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"O-of course I do! I'm gonna stop Kimiko from being expelled, and-"

"No, not that. Do you have any idea what you're _doing?_" Emma's face was blank, and Ashley sighed like she was trying to explain a very simple thing to a very stupid child. "Do you know where you'll be a few years from now? What you want to accomplish in life?"

"Well, no, but I'm only a kid!" Emma cried, confidence slipping away. "Who knows that stuff?"

"I do," Ashley hissed, her voice almost a whisper. She leaned in, saying, "I know _exactly_ what I want. And _you_ and your little _friend_ are _threatening_ what I want. So give me the tape, or I'll take it from you."

A streak of lightning hit so close it rattled the windows, and thunder shook the hall. Emma shoved past Dyris and ran down the hall, recorder clutched to her chest. "No!" screeched Ashley. She pointed at the direction Emma had run off in. "Circle around and cut her off! I want that tape recorder!"

Emma ran faster than she ever had, her feet slamming against the thin carpet. She was glad that she wasn't wearing a skirt, or else she couldn't have run nearly as fast. But even so, she wasn't a good runner, and as she skidded around a corner, Ashley slid around the opposite end of the hallway. Emma cried out and turned around, tumbling down the main stairwell and bursting out the front door. The rain battered her the second she left the shelter of the school, but she ran on, passing the tall stone wall surrounding the school, since the gate to the front drive was open. She looked back to see another figure emerging from the building and cursed beneath her breath, turning away from the school and towards the only safe place she could think of: the forest.

Kimiko was in the middle of choosing what to pack first when her phone rang. She saw Raimundo's number on the caller ID, and picked it up. "Hey, Rai," she said tiredly, not looking forward to having to say goodbye. She was surprised when that was not the first thing on his mind.

"Is Emma with you?" he asked, a panic in his voice Kimiko hadn't heard before.

"No," Kimiko replied, a sinking feeling settling in her stomach. "She left to- well, she left the room."

"I think she left the building," Raimundo said, and the feeling increased. "I heard running so I looked out the door and saw somebody that looked just like Emma running down the hall, and then out the front door." His bedroom, like all the boys', was on the first floor, with a view of the front of the school. "And someone was chasing her."

"Oh, no." Kimiko stood, grabbing Emma's jacket from the back of her chair and throwing it on. "Get the guys and meet me at the front door. Emma just got herself in a lot trouble."

"No surprise," Raimundo chuckled humorlessly. They hung up and Kimiko ran downstairs. Clay and Omi waited by the door with Raimundo. They were lucky; all the teachers were still in their rooms getting the tests in order, so there was no one to catch them in leaving the school after dark. Omi held a flashlight, and together they left the building. Clay knelt in the mud, looking at the new tracks left by both girls, his wide-brimmed cowboy hat offering some protection from the rain.

"They headed towards the woods," he said, standing and pointing. "Just about two minutes ago, too. We can catch up if we hurry."

"Then let's hurry," Kimiko said, pulling the hood of the jacket up. "Omi, lead the way!"

Omi nodded and they ran towards the forest, the flashlight beam tracking the footprints in the mud. They followed them into the creek, which was swollen with rain. Omi got across the easiest, but Kimiko was almost swept away. They managed to cross and follow the tracks into the forest. The deeper they got, the more they were sure they heard footsteps further ahead.

Ashley slipped and slid in the mud, but she did not fall. She reached the crest of a small ridge, and saw Emma further ahead_. "Orphan!"_ she screamed, fury and hysteria bleeding into her voice. "Give me the tape, orphan!"

"Emma," the girl whispered, almost without realizing it. Then she stood up straighter and looked Ashley in the eye. _"My name is Emma!"_ The pounding of the rain on everything and the thunder overhead dulled her shout, but Ashley heard and was even more enraged by it. The girl jumped over the ridge, and Emma turned and ran, though branches beat her face and tore her clothes.

Emma burst into a clearing, and her heart sank when she saw where she was. She hadn't realized how far she had gotten in the forest, but she was father than anyone had ever been in years upon years. In front of her, massive and dark, lay the lake Deepwater was named after. Even though rain was pouring down in sheets, the water remained calm, like a black slab of obsidian reflecting stars that weren't in the sky. It was beautiful, and perhaps if it had been less so she would have heard Ashley coming up behind her. But her breath caught in her throat, and the artist inside her was stirred, and she didn't. Then Ashley rammed into her, and both girls hit the mud.

Ashley's hands found Emma's throat, and she held on. "Give me the tape, orphan," she snarled, rainwater dripping from the hair onto Emma's glasses. The Irish girl pushed her head deeper into the mud in a desperate attempt to get away from Ashley's grip, but to no avail.

"Hnngggggggnno," she grunted, her throat constricted.

"Ashley!" The blonde barely looked up as Kimiko and the boys crashed into the clearing. They were all covered in mud up to the knees, and all of them stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Ashley choking Emma feet away from the lake. "What's wrong with you that you're like this?" Kimiko yelled, but came no closer.

After what seemed like a moment of consideration, Ashley let go and stood, mud dripping off of her legs. Emma scrambled to her feet, caked in the goo, and tried to run to her friends. But Ashley reached out at the last moment and grabbed her shoulder, wrenching her back. Taking Emma's surprise to her advantage, Ashley ripped the tape recorder from her grip and shoved her into the others. She almost crashed into Omi, but Clay caught her before either one could be hurt.

"Emma!" Kimiko laid a hand on her friend's shoulder as Clay helped her stand. Her hands were clamped on either side of her head, and her eyes were squeezed shut, like she was having a terrible migraine.

"Hurts," she whimpered, shaking.

Kimiko was about to ask why when Omi pointed behind all of them. "She made him angry," he murmured reverently, turning off his flashlight. Though they should have all been bathed in darkness, light remained, reflecting from the blackness of the water. Ashley's back was to the lake, and she was too preoccupied with cleaning the smeared mud off the tape recorder to see what was happening, but the others were facing it and saw it all.

The water just a few feet away from the shore began to bubble. Ripples spread out, and the stars reflected in the lake disappeared, replaced with the darkness of the sky. The water frothed and foamed, and up rose a creature they had only ever heard of. In the unnatural light cast by the lake itself, the creature's scales shimmered blue and green. Water rolled off the scales, leaving just a sheen reflected in the light. The rain did not touch it. A red mane surrounded its face, and yellow spines arched along it's back as it slithered forth from the lake, both completely dry. It towered twenty, thirty feet above the teenagers, and it was thicker around than most trees in the forest. It had no legs, only arms, which it used to pull itself onto shore. Curved silver claws dug into the mud, and exited clean and untouched. Yellow eyes with slitted pupils stared for a moment at the group of five huddled against the woods. It's breath caused a thick cloud of steam to emanate from its nostrils and rise into the air. It was the breathing, deep and ancient, that caught Ashley's attention. Half of its body remained in the water, but still it loomed over the girl, staring down its muzzle at her.

"I told you it wasn't a snake," Emma whispered to Kimiko. Neither girl looked away from the creature.

"From the story?" Kimiko whispered back, and Emma nodded.

"The thing that killed the Hollow sons," Clay murmured.

"It's a dragon," Raimundo said in awe, his voice faint.

"_He's_ a dragon," Omi corrected, a little louder.

She turned around slowly, her eyes traveling up the dragon's body to meet his eyes. She screamed and fell back into the mud, paralyzed with fear. He roared, and Kimiko was shaken to the bone. It was an unearthly sound, like something not human and not animal screaming in anger. He reared up, roaring again and revealing a mouth full of gleaming, silver fangs. He fell towards Ashley, maw open as she screamed and covered her head with her hands. Moments passed, and she cautiously opened her eyes, to find that she had not been eaten.

Emma stood between Ashley and the dragon, arms outstretched. Her hair was matted to her head, rain and mud dripped from her glasses and clothes, and a gash crossed her cheek. "Stop," she said, her voice barely shaking now. "Please, stop." The dragon bent down to look her in the eye, and she held its gaze, though her friends could see that she trembled. "Kimiko, come here," she whispered, not looking away from the dragon.

Kimiko walked forward. "This is the girl she did wrong," Emma said, pointing to Ashley, who looked stricken. "Her name is Kimiko. Kimiko does not want her to die. She is better than that, even though it is justice." The dragon looked at Kimiko, who felt her whole being scrutinized by the creature. "Please." The dragon seemed to contemplate this for a moment, then reached over and rested a claw tip on Emma's forehead. When he pulled it away, there was no mark, no blood.

The dragon pulled himself to his full height once more and looked over the boys, pausing on Omi, then glanced at Ashley, but only for a brief moment. Emma turned to Ashley, looking at her with a mixture of pity and some other, foreign emotion. "He says you shouldn't try to sabotage someone's future," she said, her voice ringing loud and clear in the stillness above the lake. "And he says if you do… well, next time, I won't be here to stop him." Ashley nodded furiously. Then the dragon turned around and slid soundlessly back into the water, not creating a single ripple. Once he had disappeared completely, the silence that had filled the air returned to the noise of rain, though it was lighter now and there was less thunder. Omi turned his flashlight back on, and everyone blinked as though waking from an exceptionally strange dream.

"Did that really just happen?" Raimundo asked, staring at the lake, which now looked like a normal lake; no stars, no light emanating from the depths, just a regular lake reflecting a stormy night sky.

"Yeah," Clay murmured, taking off his hat to run a hand through his hair. "Though Ah'm havin' a hard time belivin' it."

"Can we tell anyone about this?" Omi asked quietly.

"I don't think we can," Emma said, rejoining the group. "Who'd believe us?"

"Besides, he ought to live in peace. If we said anything, imagine the people that would come flocking to this place to see him," Kimiko added. "Tourists and scientists and government agents."

"So the secret stays here, with us," Clay said.

"_All _of us," Raimundo said, and everyone turned to look at Ashley.

"Okayy," she said weakly, standing up.

"Let's go in," Kimiko said, looking at the sky. "If we get caught out here we'll all be in serious trouble."

"I can live with trouble," Raimundo murmured, and despite everything that had happened to her in just the past few hours, Kimiko found herself smiling. As a group, Omi, Raimundo, Kimiko, Clay and Emma turned the way they had come, following their own footprints through the drizzling rain. Ashley paused, glancing back at the lake. She jumped when she heard a long, low, mournful noise coming from beneath the water, an almost imperceptible _hhhuussshhh_. She turned towards the others and ran to catch up.

**But all is not yet finished.**


	9. Like Us

**Like Us**

**In Which Karma Rumbles And A Compromise Is Reached**

**A/N: Ahh, what fun. As much as I love ripping hearts out, I do occasionally need to be nice, therefore, last chapter's resolution. But I've had my fun and it's back to square one, (ain't I clever?) and you get an epilogue. :)**

Kimiko, Ashley and Emma sat in Mr. Fung's office. Emma's tape recorder sat on his desk, it's wheels spinning away and revealing all that had been going on. _"You can't even tell we were in the room,"_ snickered the recorder in Dyris' voice.

Mr. Fung put a hand to his forehead. "That's enough." Emma reached over and pressed stop, then tucked the recorder into her jacket. "I can't believe this has been going on," he finally said, crossing his arms and looking up at the girls. Emma was grinning like a maniac, anticipating the sweet vengeance that was about to befall Ashley. Kimiko was more composed, but still happy to have everything out in the open. Ashley just sat there numbly. All three were still caked in mud, since they had been found the moment they reentered the building and sent to Mr. Fung's office to explain themselves. "Kimiko, of course you're no longer expelled, and I hope you'll forgive me for all the misunderstandings," he said to Kimiko. Then he turned and gave Ashley a very severe look. "As for you, Ashley, pack your things. You are no longer welcome at Deepwater Academy."

"Wait!" Kimiko said, surprising everyone. "Please don't expel her."

"What?" Emma and Ashley cried at the same time, then glared at each other.

"Kimiko, after all she's done to you-"

"I did something bad to her too," Kimiko interrupted, and Mr. Fung leaned back.

"Why? You beat me. I lost," Ashley asked.

"You deserve to be here," Kimiko said, conviction in her voice.

Mr. Fung held up his hands. "Call me crazy, but… alright! Ashley, you can stay at Deepwater, but you're on probation for the rest of the year. Am I clear?"

"Yes," she squeaked, shrinking under his glare.

"Don't make me regret this, girls," he said. "You can all go." The three stood and filed out of his office, closing the door behind them. Dyris and Jessie waited on the left, and the boys on the right. The girls went to their respective groups, and Ashley walked away, but was stopped when Kimiko called her name.

"Ashley." She looked back, some of her old glare returning. "I get why you did it."

There was a moment of silence between them, then Ashley flipped her hair and sneered. "Whatever." She, Dyris and Jessie left, leaving the five other teens to stand awkwardly in the hall.

"Well, glad that's over," Raimundo finally said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It got intense there for a while."

"Ya think Ashley'll snitch?" Clay asked. "About th' dragon in th' lake."

"'Course not! The dragon's gonna be the thing keepin' her in line," Emma yawned.

Kimiko glanced over at her. "So, did you always know that it was a dragon?" Emma glanced at the three boys, then back to Kimiko and shrugged.

"Yeah, I always knew. I mean, what else could it have been?" she asked, giving Kimiko her crooked grin. "A snake would've been too easy."

"So… what now?" Clay asked. "Now that we all know he's out there."

"We protect him," Omi replied firmly.

"And we keep him hidden," Raimundo agreed, nodding.

"By we, he does mean all of us," Emma said, somewhat quietly, looking at Kimiko. "And we need you to be, y'know, all of us. 'Cause I know you see Ashley and she's cruel and it looks like all this place does is corrupt and destroy people, and you see me and I'm crazy so you think that nothing good can come from loving the forest, and you don't wanna be like us, but we need you, Kimiko, and- and-" She saw Kimiko's smile and paused. "Uh. F-forget I ever said anything."

Kimiko laughed and put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course I'm staying! What sort of obnoxious overachiever would I be if I quit at the first sign of trouble?" Her tone turned serious. "Besides, I'll be keeping an eye on Ashley." She glanced at Raimundo and smiled. "Yeah, you guys are stuck with me."

**Twenty Years Later**

"C'mon, Maria!" A dark-skinned, blue-eyed girl hastened to catch up to her brother, a boy with green eyes and black hair. "We only have an hour to get our stuff to our rooms and get in there in time for Mr. Fung's speech."

"He does th' same one every year," grunted a boy with a shock of red hair and freckles, lugging several duffel bags behind him. "Ah can fill ya in should we miss any."

"Thank you, Red," Maria said, sticking her tongue out at the black-haired boy. "At least someone is being helpful, unlike Kato."

"Helpful is right," chirped a tiny girl with a long blonde braid and freckles. She skipped past Red, followed by a boy with black hair to match his black jacket. "Red's carrying bags for me and Seamus!"

"Yer welcome, Annie," Red said, pausing to regain his grip on a few of the bags. Seamus picked one up, having to hold it with both arms. Red grinned and ruffled his hair. "Good man, Seamus."

"C'mon, c'mon!" Kato called, already far ahead of the others.

"Life isn't a race!" Annie yelled, running to catch up to him.

"That's what all the slow kids say!" he laughed. He reached the front gates and stepped inside, then paused and turned around. "You guys, check it out!"

Red was the last to get to the gate, slightly out of breath from carrying the multitude of bags. But he stared with the others as they looked out at the forest that spread along the outer edges of the school, disappearing into the haze of the cloudy day. "Wow," Annie whispered. "That's the forest?"

"That's it," Kato said proudly. "Been here three years and never been inside it, either. The rules have gotten pretty strict since some kids ran around in it, like, twenty years ago."

"I bet we could see what's in there," Maria said, crossing her arms and grinning. "What do you guys think?" Seamus nodded, his dark eyes roaming the forest edge.

"Ah don't think we should go breakin' th' rules," Red muttered.

"Ah'm th' oldest an' what Ah say goes," mimicked Kato. "C'mon, Red, take a chance, be a man!"

"I think we could do it," Annie said, grinning. Red rolled his eyes and shouldered the bags again.

"All of y'all are gonna get in trouble… but Ah am th' oldest, so Ah best be there to supervise," Red added, grinning slightly. Maria high-fived the younger girl, and Kato gave a whoop. Seamus smiled crookedly.

"Great!" Kato said, hauling a bag over his shoulder. "Tonight we finally find out what's hidden in Deepwater!"

**THE END?**

**In order of age and parentage…**

**Raimundo/Kimiko: Kato, Maria**

**Clay/Emma: Red, Seamus, Annie**

**Omi/Forever Alone: NOBODY **

**These kids will be making an appearance in another story arc I'm setting up. Until then, here's your glimpse into what might happen if their parents really had gone to Deepwater. ;)**

**I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed. You guys have given me the motivation to complete this, and I really can't thank you enough. :D I'd love to express how I feel better, but I'm not very good at that, so for now I'll just say thanks. I appreciate every favorite and review. :) You guys are the best!**


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